Mary J Blige talks fighting for her life, marriage and career on Essence Live

ABC/Fred WatkinsMary J. Blige‘s latest album Strength of a Woman was released amid the artist’s much-publicized divorce from Kendu Isaacs.

Now, the “Thick of It” singer explains to Essence Live host Cori Murray what it was like to record the album during a time when she was struggling to preserve more than just her marriage.

She says, “The recording process started off really, really positive…it started off for me fighting for my life, fighting for my marriage, fighting to still exist, period, in the music business. And then it turned into me fighting for my life, period.”

“So…as bad as the situation is, it all turned out to be positive,” she adds.

Mary says that festivalgoers can expect “a night filled with women who, in the music business just like me, had to come through a lot, and just even in life. And in their songs and in their music you hear their testimony.”

“You feel Jazmine. You feel Monica, whether she’s happy, sad, whatever. And these are women that I respect.”